Your New Beautiful
by SophieM19
Summary: The church lay in front of me, almost beckoning for my entrance, maybe it too knew who I was. Who we were. Troy and Gabriella. Inseparable. In love. I can't let this happen to us.


A/N: For those of you who are fans of Losing Soul. I have a new chapter ready, but it is being checked over by my beta right now, so don't fret. This is just a little one shot I wanted to write in the midst of all this. I hope you guys like it, it's an sort of angsty, but not really. It's written differently than usual, but I hope you guys like it nonetheless.

XOXO

Sophie

I look down at the crisp invitation in my hand. Its engraved handwriting spelling out the words I feared most. I finger the edge of the thick paper as I look out the window, the city passing by me but at the moment, I couldn't care. I bite my lip in fear and nervousness of what I was going to say. How would I do this? Will it work?

I, Gabriella Montez, have finally realized what I want in life. And what I want is you, Troy Bolton. And today, I am going to get you back. This realization raises a small flicker of hope in my scheme. I breathe in once more as I have done about forty times in the past hour. My eyes flicker back to the card in my hand, going over the letters once more for the millionth time, stopping at the words

_Wedding of Troy Bolton and Elizabeth Anne Marrow_

My heart skips a beat, those same words power my body, making even more ready for what I was about to do. I can't let you go Troy and I can't let this happen. You promised you'd be mine forever and I ran away, but now I have grown and I have changed, and im ready to give you forever.

And I hope you are too.

I don't think you'll recognize me at first. I have grown up a woman now, features more sharp and body more lean. People say I'm beautiful now, but then again, you've always believed that.

With all the years between us, I am almost afraid. Will you remember forever? Will you remember me?

My heart stopped as did the cab. The church lay in front of me, almost beckoning for my entrance, maybe it too knew who I was. Who we were. Troy and Gabriella. Inseparable. In love.

I make it to the church, holding up the ends of my flowing dress. I made sure I looked amazing for you Troy, so that you could know what you were missing and take me back. I make my way inside before the ceremony started. They tell me it was only about ten more minutes. I nod and take a seat on the groom's side.

Then, my hearts starts again. Pumping faster than it has in years. I see you Troy. You enter and everybody turns and smiles. You look the same but different. More handsome and mature. Your hair is the same though, boyish and young. But then again, so are you. You were never really the serious type anyways.

I stand, hoping you'd notice me. And you do. Your eyes widen and so does your smile eventually. You make your way over to me, past the others, ready to greet me after all these years.

"Gabriella?" you say with a twinkle in your eye. I nod and grin, flashing the same smile you once told me made your heart skip two beats.

"You've grown so much, but you haven't changed a bit Troy" I say with a smile. You grin and chuckle. Then, the most unexpected thing happens. You reach over and pull me into a hug. It was a little awkward for me, but you didn't seem to notice.

"You look great Gabriella" you say, smiling at me once again. I frown a bit, but hope you don't notice. 'Great'? I have never been 'great' to you, always 'beautiful'.

"You don't look too shabby yourself, Mr. Groom" I say trying to lighten up the mood that only I seem to notice is quite glum. You, on the other hand, just keep smiling as you look down at your tux. The complement, even though was used as a distraction, was never a lie. You always look good, which makes me ache for you more.

"You haven't met Lizzy, have you?" You ask me and I shake my head.

"Lizzy? Who's that?" I ask thinking it's a close relative, maybe a cousin.

You laugh and put a hand on my shoulder, I feel a tingle but the expression on your face doesn't show that you do.

"She's my fiancé. Well, wife-to-be I guess." You grin and shrug. I nod; I hope the disappointment isn't too evident on my face, "she's in the back, getting all prettied up. I told her she didn't need to, she always looks beautiful. But I guess she thinks differently" you shrug with a smile. I look away, my tear stained eyes. She was now 'beautiful' and I am just 'great'.

"No, I haven't met her at all" I say, putting on a smile that's too wide, in a voice that's too high. You don't notice. You look behind us and you then turn me around.

"I think its that room over there, the one where all the bridesmaids keep going in and out holding cases of makeup" you chuckle. I look to where you are pointing and see what the frenzied women rushing in and out.

"She'd love to meet you" You say and I am a bit surprised. You always told me you thought exes and girlfriends should never meet because it only makes for an awkward situation. But I don't say that out loud. I nod and go over to the door, curious, myself, to see the woman you now supposedly love over me.

I peep through the door and see the back of a slender woman in a white dress. I push open the door and help myself in.

She jumps slightly and turns around, a hand on her chest and a giggle escaping her glossed lips.

"Sorry, I thought you were someone else" she smiles. She lifts the veil off of her face and I can now see the 'beautiful' that you told me about Troy. She really is. Her light brown hair lay curled around her face, going past her shoulders. Her green eyes twinkling in excitement. She had gorgeous cheekbones and rosy cheeks, but none of it seemed to matter to her at the moment.

"I'm Gabriella" I finally say. Her eyes widen, but instead of frowning, she smiles.

"You're the girl Troy told me about! His old girlfriend" she grins and makes her way over to me, unexpectedly pulling me into a hug as well. Her beautiful dress crumpling slightly at the contact.

"Yah, that's me" I give her a small smile.

"I'm so glad you could come. Could you help me for a bit? I can't stand any more bridesmaids in this room. It's really suffocating" she laughs. Her voice quite soft and angelic.

"Yah, sure" I shrug and help zip up her dress. She turns around and faces me

"How do I look?" she shuts her eyes as if waiting for a verdict. I want to say bad and horrible, gruesome maybe. But I can't, because what I see is truly beautiful. Her petite body wrapped in a strapless white dress. Her thin waist ending in an almost full gown, one that lies around her feet.

"You look beautiful" and as I say these words, I feel as though I am betraying myself, betraying my mission. But I cant help but say any other.

She looks down at her dress and then up at me and whispers a thank you. Her uncertainty obvious though, one thing I could use to help myself.

"Are you nervous? Do you have cold feet?" I question, hoping she nods and agrees. But she doesn't, she looks up and laughs.

"God, no, I am positive Troy is the man I want to spend the rest of my world with" she says and I remember thinking the same, "but the thing is, what if he's thinking twice about this? What if he doesn't want to marry me?" she whispers and I look at her. Her lights eyes now filled with fear as well.

"I don't think Troy would do that" I make sure my answer is filled with some doubt so that she would fret even more. Nonetheless, guilt overrides my body as I watch her beautiful features scrunch up and she sits down on the chair.

"I mean, look at you Gabriella, you're gorgeous. Why would he want to marry me?" she questions and I feel guiltier than ever. I don't know what to say so I squeeze her hand and make my way out of the room.

I see you standing down the aisle, ready and waiting, as if you've never been surer before. You laugh and you're best man, Chad, slaps a hand on your shoulder. He whispers something in your ear and you laugh harder, but then the music starts, and you straighten up. You are ready to see her.

I sit on one of the benches and watch as the bridesmaids, the flower girls, and anybody else before the bride go down.

And then it feels almost magical, as everybody turns to see Lizzy and her father make their way down the aisle. I turn to look at you. You're stony expression and your exicted eyes, matching the ones Lizzy had earlier.

Finally, they reach you and her father turns to give her away. He lifts up the veil and plants a kiss on her cheek.

You can now see your bride's face. You cannot grin any wider and your heart cannot beat any faster. I can almost hear it from three rows back. You take her hand and whisper a "you're beautiful" into her ear. She blushes and smiles.

The priest begins to speak but you don't take your eyes off of each other. I can't watch, its almost too hard to bear.

The priest asks for your vows and Lizzy scrambles around in search of her paper. A ripple of laughter runs through the crowd. You laugh as well, telling her it's alright and not to panic. She looks at you and breathes in. Finding confidence in your eyes, she starts. She tells us of the day you met. How she almost ran a 'NBA star' over with her brother's motorcycle. He laughs as he remembers with her, as does everybody else. Her speech is light hearted and funny. She brings back memories of times you two shared. But most importantly, it's filled with her undying love to you.

I try to remember when I have ever spoken such strong words as her, but my memory fails to recount. I refuse to believe that our love wasn't the same.

She ends her speech with a promise to be your wife. To love you forever, until the day you die. And then yours begins. I listen close for hints of doubt, for hope that you and I still have a chance. That maybe, somehow, when the priest calls out "If anyone thinks that this couple should not join…etc", I have a reason to speak.

But your words don't say that. They don't beckon to me, they don't ask for my hand. They ask for hers. They tell her that she is the love of your life and that she is the only one you would ever want to share a donut with in bed. That she is not the only woman you have ever loved, but the only one you have loved like this.

I feel tears spring into my eyes. I want to leave. I want to go because this wasn't supposed to happen like this. But I, like the many others, am captivated by your magic and hers.

I stay and watch as you brush off her tears and not mine. How you pull her into a deep kiss, and how your eyes close and you hold her face close to yours. I watch as you mouth 'I love you' to her before you both turn to the people and hold up your intertwining hands, showing your gleaming rings, your promise to each other.

I look down at my bear fingers and realize the promise you made me is now gone. I look back up and you two are laughing as you are walking down the aisle.

You turn to Lizzy and wink, then you pick her up and throw her over your shoulder. She laughs, and squeals, softly kicking her legs as she cries for you to put her down. Your family and friends laugh with you. The young flower girl throws more petals at you and your mother pulls you into a hug while your father plants a kiss on Lizzy's cheek from over your shoulder.

Then Chad comes round with a pregnant Taylor, friends whom I haven't seen in years, and he tries to get you to put Lizzy down so that he could give her a hug. Lizzy ruffles Chad's still-curly hair and then turns to Taylor. Taylor shakes Lizzy in an excited manner, placing Lizzy's hand on her belly. Lizzy squeals and claps, making you turn around to see what happened. You put your arm around her and then lead her to the limo, where you both wave good bye to start driving to your reception. You don't need to as it is so close, shouts out one of your friends, but you wink at us and say "I want some alone time with my lady". Lizzy laughs and pulls you in.

I watch this from afar in regret. It's my fault. I left you. I left everybody and I never said goodbye. I ran away to New York and I though I took you heart with me, but I didn't. Your heart was never really mine. It was just waiting to be hers.

I sip from my champagne and watch as everybody heads out to the reception in the large mansion a few blocks down.

I head there to see Lizzy about to throw her bouquet. I stand in the midst of all the women with their arms in the air, wondering what to do, where to go from here, when I look up. Lizzy watches me with a grin, she winks, turns, and throws her bouquet in my direction. I reach out and somehow catch it.

I watch you grin lovingly at her, and see that her eyes are still on me, glimmering with hope, passion and love. I see why you love her so. I can't help but love her too. I give her a real and honest smile, before planting a kiss on her cheek. I come to you and whisper good luck in your ear, I'm really happy for you Troy.

You look up at me with those blue eyes of yours that are now filled with a different kind of love. You say "I hope you find something like this too Gabriella". I nod and can't help but wish for the same.

I dance with a few friends, and greet old ones I haven't encountered in years. I drink champagne and laugh, because a new realization has dawned on me.

This wedding isn't mine. These people are no longer mine. And neither are you. You are hers. And she is yours

She is your beautiful now. And I am okay with that.


End file.
